How to Install a Mod in Minecraft

Installing a mod on Minecraft is quite easy, but some instructions how to do so are downright confusing! For that reason, we’re offering our simple guide to installing a mod in Minecraft.

Step 1: WinRAR
Make sure you have WinRAR installed on your computer. You’ll need this to edit a .jar file.

Step 2: Download the Mod
Download it into its own folder, and unzip the contents into their own folder. Leave the window open so you can access these unzipped files.

Step 3: Locate your minecraft.jar file
Depending on your system, here’s where you’ll find it.

• Windows 7: C:\Users\Your User Name\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft
• XP/Vista: C:\Documents and Settings\*your user name*\Application Data\.minecraft
• Linux: /home/Your User Name/.minecraft
• Mac OS/X: ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft

Step 4: Open the minecraft.jar file with WinRAR
With my Windows system, I right-click the minecraft.jar file and select “Open with…” and select WinRAR. Leave this window open.

Step 5: Copy the Mod
You should have two windows open – your unzipped mod files and your minecraft.jar file opened with WinRAR. Drag all of the mod files you unzipped into the minecraft.jar  file open in WinRAR.  Don’t worry about any conflicting folders, as they will be merged.

That’s it. Close all of your windows and launch Minecraft.

Note that some instructions out there tell you that you need to install some software such as a mod manager. This is unnecessary. It’s really

Troubleshooting
If you launch Minecraft, only to find a blank screen, go back into your minecraft.jar file using WinRAR and delete the folder called meti-inf. Deleting this will not harm your game. This usually fixes the problem. If that doesn’t fix it, your mod may be out of date. Try looking for a newer version.

Also, if you find you don’t like the mod, you can copy the backed-up version of minecraft.jar over the one you altered to restore Minecraft to its pre-mod state.

The most common question I seemed to encounter was “Where is the meti-inf folder?” If you don’t pay attention, you may spend a lot of time looking for it, to no avail. That’s because it’s INSIDE the minecraft.jar file. You can only access it via WinRAR.